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Topic: Effects of the wacky sort (Read 10108 times)

I got this idea from a brainstorming session with a fellow DM. Could be useful in dealing with some of the more egotistical players.

Take any item that you think the PC/Party will take and keep (for a little while at least). If they try to detect magic on it they get a faint magical aura, something like what you'd see on a really minor magic item. (No idea what an identify spell would do)

Unknown to them the item they picked up causes random magical effects for resonable periods of time. An example would be making their hair change color or making them (and only them) subject to a silence spell.

I intend to have a table of things for this item to do (and change it occasionally), and am looking for as many effects as possible that can be dangerous but not leathal(sp?).

What I've come up with so far:

Change of hair colorSentsitive to tempetureComplete restoration of everything within a certain radius (to be used paringly)A limited wish for the next person who says those magic words within earshot of the item's owner ("I wish I was a ham sandwich...":twisted: )The owner keeps hearing mood musicUnderstanding inanimate object(s)Unable to understand a word that anyone else has saidSummons a monster, as per one of the spells (DM's choice) but only a 50/50 chance that the summoner can control itPolymorphs into some other creatureMidas touch(temporary)Turns to stone (temporary)Become a paper cut out of self(temporary)Extra sensative senseAll equipment on person/in an area becomes invisible

All thoughts and comments appreciated.

Logged

Anything is possible. Anything at all. However, probability is another matter....

Owner becomes intangible for a short period of time.Prevents any fire in it's vicinity from burning.Attracts bugs.Starts flashing like a disco ball.Attracts the deeply silly.Temporarily turns the owner and anyone near him or her into children.Owner can only speak in rhyme.Turns one ordinary object into a live gerbil.Causes hallucinations.

Turns the owner's face upside-downOwner's arms and legs turn invisibleOwner looks like their second cousinRabbits seem to randomly appear everywhereQumquats fall from the sky every five minutes around the owner

Flaming footprints.Footprints coated with hoarfrost.Clouds in the sky overhead assume unnatural shapes, such as long sticks pointed at the character.The character develops a sixth finger on his left hand....A man with an odd accent hunts the character, claiming the character killed his father.It never stops raining over the character.Intermittent bursts of telekinetic activity make it seem as if the character's being haunted.Charaxcter has sporadic hallucinations of odd things, up and including the sun holding a conversation with him.Reality disjoints every few days for 1D10 minutes, and anything can happen during that timespan. Effects may or may not linger afterwards.

Logged

"I grab the sword!""Mmkay, you're dead.""What!?""You just grabbed the sword of the god you were just personally responsible for banishing from the world for the next ten thousand years. You just got zapped by around a billion volts of Angry Divine Power. You're dead."

Whenever the character sleeps, he explodes, but somehow isn't harmed by it. It takes his various parts 6+1d6 hours to crawl or slither back together, or 1 hour plus 1d4 times 30 minutes for his friends to gather up the parts.

The character loses the ability to tell people apart. He can remember names just fine, just everyone looks exactly alike to him.

Two acorns grow below the characters chin. (let the bad jokes flow!)

Logged

After a brief retirement while I got married and traveled the country, I'm back. Just getting back into the swing of things for now, but gearing up to hit things up like I used to.

Character looks like a gorillaCharacter looks like a famous person (DMs choice)Character sprouts extra heads from their headCharacter doubles in weightCharacter halfs in weightCharacter's eyes go to back of their headCharacter has multicolored zebra stripesCharacter's hair grows really, really long and wraps around them like a mummy's bandages

- Finds a grave with his own name on it.- Make him wish for an animal companion, and turn him into it!- A skull keeps floating behind him...- If someone around 'detects' or 'feels' for anything considered dangerous (undead, demons, evil, chaos, wicked bunnies, exploding dragons,... ), the unfortunate is always marked as one.- Choose two stats at random. One rises to superhuman levels, another drops beyond any usability.- If touching a corpse, it animates.- For some time the eye-sight freely changes between short-sighted and long-sighted.- People you want to talk get VERY sleepy... yawn...- Hands are completely black (or red).- Laughter sounds maniacally to others (the classical MUAHAHAHA! stuff)- Gets a robot-like mechanical voice.- Grows a tail with a life of its own, freely swinging here and there.- Reacts to sun or bright light like a vampire would do (hisses and covers face, flees)- ... similarly to holy objects- Plants around wither slowly, faster if touched.- Writes and reads only backwards.- Everyone ignores this person completely.- Gets an excellent make-up! Excellent for the opposite gender, that is.- Skis materialise miraculously under feet... effect depends on the terrain, and a skill very few have.- If shooting with a missile weapon, nothing happens. Gun does not fire, a (cross)bow simply drops or breaks the arrow. Missile-disabled for an hour.- People you meet next will be actually impersonators of some sort.- Gets an embarassing tatoo on his behind. And sooner or later this becomes public knowledge. - Becomes the target of intense street gossip. Suddenly all kinds of people seem to know things about you, even you did not know about yourself before!- Behaves like under the effect of a 'Confuse Symbols' spell. Visits the wrong toilet. Crosses the street in the wrong moment. 'Keep OUT, dangerous!' understands as 'Welcome!' etc.- It seems that everyone around suddenly uses the worst curses and insults possible!- Next time a knowledge skill determines something should work in a certain way, it works the opposite way (even if unreasonable, or nigh to impossible).- Cultists try to persuade him to become a ritual sacrifice to their god.- Works like a beacon to beggars and wagrants of all sorts.- ... a great fishing-hook flies down from the skies, and grabs him. Is drawn up into the clouds, where (insert deity) examines him, and with "Nah, too small!" throws back. Minor damage only, ends up 1d10 miles from former location.- Meets a wise old healer from some exotic far-away country, willing to teach in the Arts of Herbalism. Sadly, no of the herbs described do grow around.

- For a short period, or at random intervals, anyone that looks into the character's face runs away screaming as if seeing some indescribable horror.- Hands begin to secrete a strange greenish fluid, actually a strong contact poison. Usable, just take care you don't poison yourself! Any food you touch spoils immediatelly, potions too.- Grows thorns everywhere... want to sit down? - Suddenly gets the chance (or not) to teleport anywhere in a short radius. Well, but ends up heads-down.- Head becomes a balloon (with face and all). If pierced, it explodes, revealing the original head, with some serious headache inside.- For a few seconds you see a looming shade before you. It points its hand towards you in a threatening manner! Then it disappears.

The two sides of the characters consience become manifest. A demon sits on one shoulder, an angel on the other. They interact with all around, giving comments and suggestions. The angel will compliment people, the demon gives out crude insults and tries to pick up on the appropriate sex. Worst of all, the player can not see or interact with his consience, although they will voice his inner dialog aloud, to all present, if he should stop and ponder a moral dilemma.

Logged

After a brief retirement while I got married and traveled the country, I'm back. Just getting back into the swing of things for now, but gearing up to hit things up like I used to.

The characters shoulder blades begin growing pairs of stalks. The stalks eventually merge and become legs that end at the ankles in the characters back. Then, the legs begin to grow torsoes and arms and, eventually, heads. The figures growing from the character's back look like halfling porportioned copies of the character. They mimic exactly what the character does.

- Mysteriosly attracts fishing hooks. Can get very painful, and better stay clear of that Fisherman of the Year contest! - Next thing he throws misses, bounces, and hits him in the head. No actual wound, but a chance of a K.O. - Everyone around has the benefits of a 'Stealth' skill of excellent level, and uses it. - Clothes fall apart into the pieces they were sewn from. Armor too. - Has a dream of what he did during the last day, from the viewpoint of a person that was not there... or at least not visible. - The little village they are in, changes overnight it's culture, ie it may still be dominantly human, with the same people, but clothing, accent, customs, even architecture can change somewhat. Tomorrow it will be alright again. - For a short time, has the ability to change freely magic to hit points and back, but cannot heal nor gather magic for that moment. - Everyone thinks he has bad intentions: take-over the business, rob them, get his girl, get into her grandpa's testament... - All weapons work as bludgeoning weapons only, even missiles. Any spell character casts, too. - Granted the ability to understand animals, learns what animals REALLY think about us. Example: The horse will think about finding a nice spot to throw you down, so you hopefully die, and kick you dead if you are not. Enjoy this one... - Person loses the sense of orientation, and can get lost in its own house if big enough. - A small boat falls bottom-up on the character. Instant disguise. - Feels anything he is told is a lie. - Attracts orcish bards. - In the next 1d3 bars/pubs/canteenas, a fight breaks out, and he is considered guilty for causing it.

Wacky Effects again - Has a dream of what he did during the last day, from the viewpoint of a person that was not there... or at least not visible.

Wow! That is so freaky it could launch a whole campaign or introduce some mysterious figure to guide the players. Maybe it only happens when the person is going to show up the next day, when the player wakes from the dream. I love this idea!

Logged

After a brief retirement while I got married and traveled the country, I'm back. Just getting back into the swing of things for now, but gearing up to hit things up like I used to.

Maybe it only happens when the person is going to show up the next day, when the player wakes from the dream. I love this idea!

Meant to mix some paranoia into the pot...

If you connect this to a particular person (or not? ), it may well add strangeness to him/her. Let him/her act as if s/he possibly knows. I know what you did yesterday.

Saying: "You feel observed!" can make players unsure. But making them clear they ARE observed, from time to time, and won't know in advance (and not even on the spot), may somewhat humble their usual bloodthirsty behaviour.

Ok.. here are some quite subtle and harmless effects, but hopefully funny. The people won't understand what's wrong for ages!

The carrier starts tripping over his or her feet several times a day, but has a habit of spotting coins and lucky clovers in the spot (s)he fell in, depending on the environment.

The carrier gets a feeling that all horses (and other big animals, including statues) stare at him or her strangely. If someone else is asked to observe the animals, they never notice anything funny.

The carrier develops a terrible case of stomach gas and keeps belching and farting all the time, the chance increasing in the presense of honoured people.

The carrier develops a loud hiccup if trying to stalk someone. If he or she desides to give up, the hiccup stops instantly but starts again if he or she tries to start following the person again.

If the carrier is hiding, the item will start humming or playing music that increases when the searcher approaches the hiding place. (Sure to raise panic.) But it appears that the carrier has turned invisible, along with his or her companions. But if the object is thrown away, the invisibility vanishes.

The item starts developing a stench of rotten eggs after the sunset. (Very nice if the characters are sleeping in a tent.)